Wednesday, January 09, 2013

Catholic Church in Scotland steps up opposition to gay marriage plans

FORMER Archbishop of Glasgow Mario Conti has issued a fresh warning
to the Scottish Government over plans to legalise gay marriage.

Conti, now the Archbishop Emeritus of Glasgow has described same-sex
marriage as "morally defective" and has urged ministers not to equate
"homosexual unions with heterosexual marriage" by legislating.Conti's latest remarks come as the Government continues to seek views on its Marriage and Civil Partnership (Scotland) Bill.In a letter published in the Catholic journal, The Tablet, Conti
wrote: "While it is true, certainly within Catholic social teaching,
that governments are not required to make all immoral actions illegal,
to many it is unhelpful, unnecessary and indeed profoundly unwise for
political action to do quite the opposite, namely to attempt through the
law, by equating homosexual unions with heterosexual marriage, to
render moral what is in itself morally defective."He went on to say that the Catholic Church's opposition must "surely
be worthy of consideration" given its task to "promote the moral
well being of society".LGBT equality charity the Equality Network has called on the Government to stand firm on its proposed laws.Tom French, policy co-ordinator for the charity, said: "In a free
society, Archbishop Conti is entitled to express his views, however offensive they may be. Thankfully, most people in Scotland support same-sex marriage and
disagree with the assertion that their gay friends and family members
are 'morally defective'. The Catholic Church has long campaigned against equal rights for
lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, and for Archbishop Conti
to imply that same-sex relationships should now be made illegal is evidence of a worrying anti-gay agenda."The Government announced plans to legalise same-sex marriage in July following a consultation which attracted 80,000 responses.The proposals have already received cross-party support in Holyrood.